Ever The Same
by Arayllin
Summary: "I didn't mean for this to happen; you know I didn't! I never wanted for anyone to get hurt!" *Ferb-centric
1. Prologue

Without a doubt, this was one of the best days of Candace Flynn's life.

The sun was shining bright, casting a cheery hue over the world as she went about her daily routine. As usual, she'd spent the first bit of the morning trying to bust Phineas and Ferb, but she'd already forgotten what for. In fact, at this point she hardly even remembered her little brothers existed, let alone that she was supposed to be busting them.

Jeremy had been paying attention to her all day – and only her. He'd even bought his way into the fanciest restaurant in town, and invited Candace as his guest of honour! She could hardly believe this was happening; but she wasn't about to question it.

Without a doubt, this was one of the best days of her life.

As it was, she was enjoying herself so much that she didn't notice when her phone went off in her pocket. She had set it to vibrate, not wanting Stacey to interrupt her alone time with Jeremy; but was so absorbed in their discussion that she paid it no mind.

The second time it went off had the same result, but by the third Jeremy had gotten up to fetch another soda for her, and she grabbed at it the moment it went off.

Thinking it was Stacey looking for details, Candace hissed some irritated message about buzzing off, just about to hang up when the voice on the other end caught her attention. She had been expecting Stacey – maybe another friend calling, but that wasn't what she heard at all.

She hadn't expected to hear her mother's raspy voice on the other end of the line, calling from some payphone halfway across the city. She hadn't expected to be on the phone when Jeremy returned with her drink. And she certainly hadn't expected to hear the words her mother spoke first, choking on each syllable as she managed to get it out:

"There's been an accident."


	2. Chapter the First

"_**Ferb, I know what we're going to do today!"**_

_Famous last words, Phineas,_ the boy told himself, staring down at his sweaty hands. He had been sitting in the waiting room for what felt like forever, unwilling to get up even when his dad had offered to buy the family pizza. He wouldn't have been able to enjoy it anyway.

Jeremy and Candace had arrived a few hours ago, both worried and visibly upset. The first thing Candace had done was yell at Phineas, telling him that she always knew someone was going to get hurt in one of his "crazy schemes," but then she had hugged him long and hard. She hadn't gone when their parents had left for food – she was still sitting beside Phineas, having told Jeremy to go home a while ago. Neither was saying anything; but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. They were still trying to figure out just what was going on.

He felt like crying, but he didn't feel like he had any tears left – this was so screwed up. Glancing at his sister through the corner of his eye, Phineas decided that he just _had_ to say something. If he didn't, he was rightfully worried he was going to go insane. However, just as he was about to open his mouth, Candace beat him to it.

"So how are _you_ feeling?" She asked, for once no sarcastic undertone to the words. Phineas looked up at her with a blank expression, one typically reserved for such situations as this.

"Not too good," he admitted, ashamed to find the words coming out in a whisper, "I feel awful."

"Come here." Holding out her arms, she pulled him into another hug, letting go only moments after. "Everything's going to be okay."

"How do you know?"

"Well…" Biting her lip, Candace looked around the near-empty room, and Phineas knew she was searching for the right words. "You guys have pulled through worse situations before, right?" She put on a brave smile, though he could tell it was forced. "Ferb's a tough guy – he'll get better."

Unwilling to shatter her optimistic outlook – or, her idea of one, anyway – Phineas took a deep breath and leaned his head against her shoulder. "I hope you're right Candace." He said slowly, watching the door to the room for their parents. "I really _really_ hope you're right…"

* * *

"What do you mean Ferb is in the hospital?" Isabella Garcia-Shapiro could hardly believe what she was hearing. "What _happened_?" She stared up in horror at the bringer of the bad news – ie, Candace's friend Stacey.

"I dunno." The older girl shrugged, looking almost as distressed as Isabella felt. "Jeremy just said I should pass the news along. Apparently there was an accident while he and Phineas were building something."

"Is Phineas–"

"Phineas is fine."

Breathing a sigh of relief and instantly feeling bad for it, Isabella posed one last question: "Where's the rest of the gang right now?"

Stacey shrugged again, only half-listening as she texted someone else on her phone. "Candace and Phineas and their parents are at the hospital." She said in a rush. "The rest of your friends are just around town, and Jeremy's at the park." Looking down at Isabella, she paused before going on. "We're trying to come up with some ways we can help them out – you know, make 'em food or something. Maybe Phineas could stay at your place? So he wouldn't be… you know, alone, while Ferb, like, recovers?"

"That would be a great idea!" Isabella squealed, perhaps too excited over the situation. Stacey raised an eyebrow at the reaction, but returned to texting almost at once.

"Great, thanks." Stacey nodded. "We'll try to keep you posted, okay? I've got Candace on speed dial."

"Okay," Isabella watched as the teenager waved, then backed out of her driveway and started down the street, texting all the while, "…thanks."

Waiting until Stacey was out of sight, Isabella hollered to her Mom that she was going out, then slammed the door shut behind her and raced down the street towards Phineas' and Ferb's house. If there was anywhere the gang would be, that was it; and she knew they would be able to come up with _something_ to help their friends. After all, the boys had done so much to help _them_ in the past – it was the least they could do to repay them in their time of need.

Now all she had to do was find out just what had happened.

* * *

"Mom, I've told you a hundred times; I don't know what happened!" Phineas hugged his arms around his body, watching his Mom with wide eyes. "It was all so fast!"

"Phineas." Linda Flynn-Fletcher put her hands on her hips, looking sternly down at him. "You said earlier there was a giant laser…?"

"There was!" Phineas was getting agitated, begging her to understand. "It just came outta nowhere! Why else do you think Ferb–" he choked on his brother's name, but recovered quickly, "would fall? He's got amazing balance!"

"Phineas, you were on the roof!" Linda cried, throwing her arms into the air. "Do you even know how _dangerous_ that was?"

"Nobody was in any danger, Mom!" Phineas said loudly, matching her volume and feeling slightly rebellious. If she wasn't going to listen to him, he didn't see why he had to listen to her. Besides, this was the worst day of his life already; it wasn't like she could make it any worse. "Everything was under control until that laser beam–"

"I don't want to hear another word of it." Linda sank into a seat across the aisle from him, burying her face in her hands. Phineas buried his own face into his arms, not saying another word until his father's less-chipper-than-usual interjection:

"Why don't we put all of that behind us for now?" He said in a rush. "These things happen – it's going to be all right."

"I know, Lawrence." Linda sighed, reaching out and taking his hand. "I just wish these things… didn't happen." She looked over at Phineas, who was doing his best to keep more tears from falling. "I didn't mean to shout, Phineas."

"I know, Mom." The redhead did his best to smile, but failed and hid his face further. Linda watched him for a moment, then got up and came to sit beside him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"We're going to be okay, hon," she said softly, laying a hand on his cheek until he met her eyes. "Ferb's going to be fine, you'll see."

"If you say so Mom." Phineas wiped at his eyes, embarrassed, but glad she wasn't mad at him. Reaching up to hug her, he smiled when he felt his dad and Candace joining in; making it their first family-group hug in what felt like a very long time. Of course, it wasn't really a _family_-group hug with one of them missing… Phineas pushed the thought from his mind.

It was like his mother had said, he told himself, snuggling close to her; Ferb would be better and back where he belonged in no time… right?

* * *

"So _nobody_ saw Phineas and Ferb this morning?" Isabella, all dressed up in her Fireside Girls uniform, was in disbelief. "Like at all?" She looked at each of her friends individually, but everyone just shrugged.

"I did not come over until later." Baljeet said sorrowfully. "If I had know this was–"

"I wuz waitin' for an invitation." Buford jumped in. "You know, for their next do-hickey or whatever it wuz they were building."

"That's another good point." Isabella glanced up to the roof of the Flynn-Fletcher's house, which they could see was littered with tools from Ferb's toolbox. "Does anyone know _what_ they were going to do today?"

"Nope." Buford shook his head, and Baljeet shrugged his shoulders again, unwilling to speak after Buford's interruption. None of the Fireside Girls seemed to have any ideas either.

"Well okay then." Isabella frowned, trying to hide the worry in her eyes. "If none of us know what they were up to, then I guess none of us know what happened to Ferb?"

"…what about Ferb?" Baljeet spoke up, ignoring the look Buford gave him. "Did something bad happen?"

"Wait, you mean you guys don't…?" Isabella looked once more over the gathered group, taking in the blank stares only a moment before clearing her throat. "Uhh, why are you all here?"

"Well," Buford repeated, growing annoyed, "I came to see why I wuzn't invited to see their next do-hickey or whatever it wuz."

"I do not know why I came." Baljeet added, and Isabella nodded slowly.

"I see." She said after a moment. "Well then, I suppose none of you have heard the news…" She paused a moment for effect. "Ferb is in the hospital."

"What?" The reaction was instant, and Isabella had to jump back when Baljeet grabbed for her arm. "What happened? Is he okay? Where is–"

"Oh, don't worry," Isabella comforted him quickly, "Phineas is okay." Another pause. "Err, I mean; Stacey said Ferb will be fine – I think – but I don't actually know what happened. That's, uh, why I came here. I figured one of you would have some sort of idea."

"You thought wrong, sister." Buford said, crossing his arms and taking a seat in the middle of the backyard. "And now we don't got nothing to do today; that's just great!"

"How can you say such a thing when Ferb is – ooookay, I am being quiet now." Baljeet sat down beside Buford, flinching at the huge fist inches away from his face.

Isabella resisted the urge to yell at them, instead turning to her trusty Fireside Girls for help. "We need to figure out what happened to Ferb, and how we can help him – and Phineas – through this!" She glanced up at the roof, and the ladder precariously leaned up against it. "Let's split up and search the area! Let me know if you find any clues!"

Watching as her girls leapt into action, Isabella spared one last glance at the boys, then sighed and started up the ladder herself. Only when she had nearly reached the top did Baljeet take enough notice of his surroundings to ask:

"Hey, where is Perry?"

* * *

"Morning, Agent P." The familiar deepness of Major Monogram's voice echoed in the large room, and Agent P saluted smartly as he settled into his chair for his briefing. Much to his surprise, Monogram shook his head, and then said all rather quickly: "No time for that, Agent P – Dr. Doofenshmirtz is on the prowl." He paused only a moment, looking side to side suspiciously before continuing. "And by on the prowl, I mean _destroying the city_. He's made some sort of new super-weapon and has been going around shooting at things all morning. It's your job to put a stop to it, Agent P."

Nodding quickly, Agent P jumped up from his chair, saluting once more. Racing to his scooter, he pulled up short when Major Monogram cleared his throat suddenly.

"One more thing, Agent P." The major said nervously, causing the secret agent to come to a complete stop. Clearing his throat again, Major Monogram looked through the camera with a pained expression. "It would appear that Doofenshmirtz's new weapon has already claimed its first victim." Agent P raised an eyebrow, booking it back to the chair and leaning against it as he waited for further detail. Monogram took a deep breath. "It seems he either planned it, or just got lucky; one of the members of your foster family took the hit."

A small image popped up on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, and it took Agent P less than a second to recognize the face of his English owner. For a moment, he didn't respond. Then, all of a sudden his vision went red, and he charged towards his scooter faster than he had moved in his entire life, out of the base before Monogram could even say "Doof."

Speeding down the highway, Agent P ignored every traffic sign – his only goal reaching Doofenshmirtz before he could claim anyone else's life. He didn't know the details of what was going on; he hadn't been given a complicated back story or foolish thoughts of vengeance to base his plan on, but if there was one thing that Perry the platypus knew for sure, it was this:

Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz was going to pay.


	3. Chapter the Second

"What do you mean you don't know?" Phineas fought to keep tears out of his eyes as he addressed the tall man looking down at him. "How can you _not know_?"

"It's a tricky situation, kid," the doctor said remorsefully, "there's really no way to–"

"You're a doctor, aren't you?" Phineas was shouting now, ignoring his mother's restraining hand on his shoulder. "This is your _job_!" He knew he was making a scene, but he didn't care anymore. In fact, he hardly even noticed the people sitting around the waiting room, most of whom were either staring or pretending not to notice.

"Phineas," Linda leaned down beside him while Lawrence and Candace moved closer to the doctor for some private conversation. "You need to calm down, honey." Her voice was gentle, and yet firm at the same time, and Phineas wiped his arm across his eyes.

"How can I calm down, Mom?" He said, his voice cracking. "Ferb's hurt, and this guy won't even tell us what's the matter with him!"

"Honey, it's… complicated." Linda tried her best to explain, but Phineas wasn't listening. He had moved on, doing his best to listen to the conversation happening a few feet away, while pretending to stare at his shoes. Frowning, Linda decided to go with it, and waited only a moment more before the doctor walked away.

"So, what did he say?" Linda asked in a hushed tone, hardly allowing her husband and daughter to reach them before demanding to know.

"Well…" Lawrence glanced around them, then lowered himself into an empty chair. "You should probably all sit down."

Complying quickly, Linda sat across from Lawrence, while Candace sat beside him, with Phineas curling up in her lap (ignoring the fact that the chair really wasn't big enough for both of them).

"So?" Linda prompted, and Lawrence took a deep breath.

"There's good news," he said slowly, "and then there's bad news."

"Just spit it out Dad." Phineas said hoarsely from his place beside him. The more he thought about it, the more menacing the comment sounded, and the more he felt certain he didn't want to hear whatever was coming next. He did, however, want to figure out how he could help Ferb, so he waited impatiently for his dad to finish.

"The doctor told me that Ferb is in no immediate danger." Lawrence said quickly, glancing at each member of his family in turn as he spoke. "They were able to stabilize him; you acted just in the nick of time, Phineas."

"Great," Candace said tiredly, and perhaps a little sarcastically, stroking her little brother's back as she spoke, "so what's the bad news?"

"Well," Lawrence said once again, "that's the nasty part, really. As I said, they managed to get his condition stable, but… well…" He paused one last time, and then sighed: "Ferb hit his head very hard when he fell from the roof, and the injury is… severe. He's asleep right now, and they've got him on life support, but… they're not exactly sure when he's going to wake up."

"You mean…" Linda allowed the news to sink in a moment, her eyes slowly widening as they did. "…Ferb is in a coma?"

"It would appear that way, yes." Lawrence's own voice had grown husky as he'd been talking, and he cleared his throat roughly. "But that doesn't mean he won't–"

"Phineas!" Candace said suddenly, diverting their parents' attention to the kids. What they saw surprised both of them, though in hindsight it really shouldn't have. Phineas, having been balled up on his sister's lap up until the end of Lawrence's speech, had crumpled to the ground at her feet, unable to hold it in any longer. Pitiful sobs racked his small body as he buried his face in his hands, and the rest of his family exchanged a look, all feeling the same way but incapable of expressing it.

"Oh, honey." Linda said after a moment, tears coming into her own eyes as she got to the ground and wrapped her arms around him. She had no words of comfort for him, but drew him close and rested her chin on his head as he started crying into her chest. After a moment of this, Lawrence pulled Candace into a hug, and then the two of them sank to the ground as well, finally allowing emotion to take over as the hours ticked painfully by.

* * *

"So it would appear that they were doing… something." Isabella announced after a moment. She was standing on the roof of the Flynn-Fletcher's house, looking down at the pile of tools spread in front of her. "And they certainly left in a hurry."

"Maybe that is because Ferb got hurt somehow?" Baljeet suggested from his place on the top rung of the ladder. "It would explain it."

"It would." Isabella nodded, glancing back at her friend and secretly glad he was still helping her. The Fireside Girls had left when they couldn't find any clues, and to her knowledge Buford was just lying under the tree behind them, bored. "But what do you think actually _happened_?"

"Maybe he fell off the roof?" Baljeet climbed up the last step, shuddering a moment as he looked down. "It is a very long way."

"It is, but that wouldn't be like Ferb…" Isabella mused. "He's got amazing balance."

"Maybe he got pushed?" A loud comment from below told them that the bully was still listening despite his distracted demeanor.

"Pushed?" Isabella repeated, bending over carefully to pick up one of the boys' tools. "But who would push Ferb?"

"Certainly Phineas would not!" Baljeet edged closer to the girl and farther from the roof's edge as he spoke.

"Of course he wouldn't." She said confidently. "They're best friends; they would never do anything to hurt each other. You know that, Baljeet."

"I know." The Indian boy shrugged his shoulders. "I am just naming the possibilities."

"Right." Isabella nodded, then grabbed another of Ferb's tools. "I guess we have to think of everything." Gathering up as many of the supplies as she could – including tools, materials, and various gadgets whose purpose remained unknown – she ducked around Baljeet and headed back for the ladder. "At least we can clean up for them; I doubt they're going to finish this invention today…"

"You are probably right." Baljeet agreed, taking up a few things in his arms as well. "We may as well do what we can." They made their way down the ladder, carefully so as to not drop the tools – or fall – and then returned to the roof, keeping it up until everything was back on the ground.

"Perfect!" Isabella nodded with satisfaction, looking down at the various objects scattered across the lawn. "Now we just gotta get them to the garage!"

"I will help." Baljeet bent over quickly, scooping up the nearest few objects and racing ahead, through the fence and around to the garage. Humming to herself, Isabella went to grab Ferb's power drill, but froze only a moment later when a high-pitched, ear-piercing screech assaulted her ear drums, followed quickly by a loud crash.

"Baljeet!"

Dropping the drill, she ran towards the fence, but was forced to slow down when Buford bolted past her and jumped the fence entirely.

"You okay, 'Jeet?" The bully asked, leaning over his friend with a concerned look on his face.

"I am uninjured," Baljeet said from his place on the ground, his voice shaking, "but I would not say that I am 'okay'."

"We heard you scream." Isabella said, frowning disdainfully at the pile of dropped tools. "What did you do?"

"I was just walking to the garage," Baljeet explained, pushing himself back up to his feet, "and I… found… this!" Gesturing frantically to the pavement underneath them, Baljeet turned their attention to a dark stain tarnishing the surface. It took only a moment for the other kids to realize it for what it was:

Blood.

* * *

"I know exactly what you mean Vivian." Linda nodded to herself as she talked into the payphone on the far end of the waiting room. "It's very nice of you to offer."

Phineas didn't look up at the discussion – it wasn't any of his business, and he wasn't in the mood to eavesdrop. Or to do much of anything, for that matter. Candace sat across from him, staring blankly at the ground just like he was, while their father paced the floor between them.

It had been hours since the last update, since they had been told Ferb was comatose. They had yet to hear anything else about his condition, and despite the late hour, they were unwilling to go home. Just in case.

"I can ask him, just give me a second." Linda held her hand over the receiver, calling across the room. "Phineas, honey?"

"Yeah Mom?" He replied, surprising even himself with how empty his voice sounded.

"Mrs. Shapiro-Garcia says you can spend the night at her place with Isabella if you like. To keep your mind off of Ferb."

"I don't wanna keep my mind off of Ferb, Mom." Phineas replied, slightly offended but not caring to show it. "I'm not leaving the hospital until I get to see him."

Frowning slightly, Linda went back to her conversation. "I'm sorry, Vivian; Phineas is still a little upset…"

Tuning her out, the redheaded boy went back to staring at the ground, his mind filled with stupid thoughts. He couldn't help but feel like this was all his fault – it had been _his _idea to put a sunroof in over their bedroom. Ferb had just gone along with it. If anything, _Phineas_ should have been the one to get hurt. It just wasn't fair.

"How are you doing now?" A sudden question from Candace caught him off guard, and he looked up again to see Lawrence and Linda across the room by the front desk, talking with someone. The waiting room was nearly empty by now – nearly ten o'clock – and so the siblings were almost entirely alone. Phineas stared up at his big sister, his eyes emotionless as Ferb's usually were.

"I'm okay, I guess." He said honestly, not wanting to worry her. "I just can't believe this is really… it just all happened so quickly!"

"I'm sure it did." Candace smiled what she hoped was a comforting smile, leaning forwards so she was closer to him. "These sorts of things always seem like that when they happen."

"I know." Phineas pulled his legs up onto the chair, hugging his knees to his chest. "But all I can see in my head is that moment; Ferb falling, and when I tried to grab his arm… and then he was just lying there, and–"

"Phineas, don't!" Candace gasped, pushing away from her chair and sliding into one beside him. "Reliving the moment is only going to make it hurt more. You need to let it go."

"But… I could've saved him."

"If it had been possible, then you would've." Candace said philosophically.

Phineas sighed again. "Do you really think so?"

"I do."

There was a pause then, and Phineas smiled slightly, for the first time since arriving at the hospital that morning. "Thanks, Candace."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for."

Phineas opened his mouth, about to say more, but stopped himself when he noticed their parents walking back towards them.

"Any news?" Candace asked eagerly, but Lawrence shook his head.

"Not really," he said, "but they've told us that we can go in and see him if we like."

Phineas' eyes lit up. "Can we?"

"Well, I don't know…" Linda bit her lip, thinking. "Is that really the best idea? I mean, we're already so–"

"Come on, darling, we might as well." Lawrence cut in. "We can just peek in for a moment, and then we can go home."

"All right then." Linda sighed, and Phineas wondered for a moment whether or not _she_ wanted to see Ferb. He didn't dwell on the thought though, following after his parents as they left the waiting room and headed down the hallway.

"The room number they gave me was 1030." Lawrence said, checking the numbers on every door they passed. "In the ICU, of course."

"Intensive care unit." Phineas muttered to himself, not sure why he was saying it.

"Ahh, yes, here we are." Lawrence stopped in front of a white door, which appeared to be the exact same as the ones surrounding it, but for the hastily scribbled sign taped to the front, reading 'Q_uiet please!'_ in big red letters. "Room 1030."

Nobody moved for a good minute, before Linda finally broke the silence, reaching for the door handle and pushing the door open. "Let's go in, then."

The door swung in with a slight creaking sound to announce their arrival, but as they had expected there was no-one waiting inside. The room was completely empty, save for a single bed in the center of the room to their right, and a small wooden chair placed beside the head of the bed. It had been shoved back against the wall to make room for the various machines and devices that surrounded the bed, and had left scuff marks on the clean white floor. The walls were painted a calming light blue colour, and the entire room had the same unfriendly, sterile feel to it as any other room in the building.

Phineas shuddered at the sight, daring to take a few steps closer and grasping Candace's hand as she came up behind him. Holding his breath, he crept ever-closer, suddenly aware of a low, beeping noise coming from somewhere just in front of them. He didn't have to ask to know what that meant.

After a moment or so, he shifted his vision to the bed itself, past the wires and fluids and machines, to the pale figure lying on his back amidst it all. Phineas heart plummeted into his stomach, and he pulled away from Candace to move closer.

Ferb's eyes were closed, and his face was expressionless, but Phineas knew he had to be in pain. His head was swathed in bandages, and a mask over his face kept his brother from getting too clear a view of him. Heavy white sheets covered him, pulled up to his shoulders to keep him warm in the cool temperature of the room; underneath Phineas could see the neckline of a hospital gown. Taking a deep breath, Phineas tried to swallow the lump in his throat, barely able to form the words as he said them:

"…hi, Ferb."


	4. Chapter the Third

The next morning was a strange one for Phineas Flynn. He woke up in the same room as ever, in the same clothes he had worn the day before. Perry was lying beside him, curled up against his chest, but that was normal enough. It didn't take Phineas long to figure out what was different though.

When they had come home from the hospital the night before, he had been exhausted. He hadn't wanted to leave at all, but his parents had convinced him that it was for the best. He hadn't bothered to change, or even brush his teeth, but had gone right upstairs to his room and crawled into bed. Except it hadn't been his bed he had crawled into.

Staring up at the ceiling, Phineas wondered why he had never seen the room from this angle before, but then realized that it wasn't often that he found himself lying on Ferb's bed. On any normal day, it was a rare thing for him to lie in bed at all – he was usually up and about even before his parents were. However, he reminded himself with a bitter grimace, this was not any normal day.

"I guess we should get up, shouldn't we Perry?" He said after a couple of minutes had passed. The platypus didn't say anything, but the stunned look in his eyes seemed to have vanished as he stared over at Phineas' empty bed. Phineas sighed, pushing back Ferb's covers and climbing out of the bed. "You miss him too, don't you boy?"

Chattering the way he usually did, Perry jumped to the floor as well, watching Phineas as he changed into a fresh set of clothes and flopped back onto the bed. "_Krrrrrr_."

"I know it isn't like me," Phineas argued, dreaming up what Perry was saying, "but I just don't want to do anything today. Doing things reminds me of…" he paused, unwilling to bring up the name or the memory currently associated with it. "I just want to go back to bed."

He was about to do just that, when his door opened, and Linda appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, you're already up." She raised an eyebrow at Phineas' choice of bed, walking in and sitting down beside him. "Sleep well?"

"No."

"Me neither."

Neither spoke for a little while, eventually watching as Perry meandered out of the room and down the hall. Linda stood up then, patting Phineas once on the back. "You should come down and get some breakfast." She said, a motherly tone taking over. "You'll feel better with a full stomach."

"I really doubt it." Phineas muttered, but he got up and followed her nonetheless. Maybe a good breakfast would be just what he needed…

* * *

It took him at least two minutes to sneak around to the backyard, but Perry managed to evade notice, slapping on his fedora and instantly assuming his alter ego. Slipping into the hollow in the back of the house, he popped open a hidden trapdoor, and stepped inside. Flying down the tube at lightning speed, he emerged in the base, ready for some action… not to mention revenge.

He'd been eavesdropping around the house most of the night (no-one had slept and all had been willing to talk to him – even Candace had said a few words), and had managed to pick up the gist of Ferb's situation. He was glad to hear that his owner wasn't dead as he had originally thought, but he was no less angry for it. So angry that it took Monogram four tries to even catch his attention over the big screen.

"Agent P!" Snapping to attention, the platypus saluted, not bothering to sit in the chair. He was thinking too hard to relax at this point. "It's good to see you again, Agent P." Monogram was saying. "We weren't sure that you would show up after… yesterday's, uh, incident."

Frowning, Perry gestured for Monogram to get on with it.

"Uhh, right." Clearing his throat, Monogram cast a glance to his right, presumably at Carl, then addressed Agent P. "See, I don't actually have a mission for you today. It would seem that Dr. Doofenshmirtz is either in hiding, or planning something truly evil. Ever since you were unable to follow his trail yesterday, we've lost track of him completely; so it's up to you to find him, and figure out whatever he's planning. And then to put a stop to it!"

Nodding, Agent P turned towards the exit, but in a case of déjà vu, found himself stopping again when Monogram called out for him to wait.

"And, Agent P?" The major said slowly. "Try not to let your, uh, personal issues get in the way of defeating Doofenshmirtz, okay? This is important stuff, and agents don't have time to worry about getting even."

Saluting once more, Agent P headed for the exit tube. He knew with utmost certainty that he would be unable to obey the major's final command, and left the base feeling like a liar. How could Major Monogram expect him to not want to seek revenge? Doofenshmirtz had, whether by accident or on purpose, put Ferb in the hospital – and that was not something Perry the platypus could take lightly. No, it didn't matter what Monogram _told_ him to do, his thoughts from the day before still remained the same. Doof was going down.

* * *

"I dunno Stace, I just really don't want to go to the mall today." Candace lay across the armchair by the back doors, her phone in her right hand while she chatting with her best friend. "I'm not in the mood for shopping."

"_What_?" Stacey's voice hit a high note as she cried out in surprise. "Who are you and what have you done with Candace?"

"I'm the girl whose brother is in the hospital, remember?" Candace said bitterly, turning the entire conversation around. There was nothing but static for a moment, then Stacy spoke up again.

"Candace, I am so sorry."

"It's cool, Stace." The teenager glanced wistfully into their backyard, where Phineas sat up against the tree, staring sadly at the ground. "Things are just weird right now."

"Do you want me to come over?"

"No, it's okay." Candace really didn't want her friend to see her family like this. Not to mention that she was afraid of losing it herself. "Just keep talking to me."

"_That_ I can do."

Immediately launching into some story about the latest couple in their friend group, Stacy talked Candace's ear off for the next half and hour, but Candace hardly heard any of it. She spent most of the time _trying_ to focus on what her friend was saying as opposed to everything else running through her head, but she wasn't doing a very good job of it. It was just like Phineas had said yesterday – the scene just kept running through her head, over and over again. She hadn't even been there, but she could picture it well enough. When she'd left the house to go out with Jeremy, her brothers had been setting up the ladder against the roof. Maybe if she'd stopped them there, Ferb would be okay. Maybe Phineas wouldn't be sitting outside all by himself, only out of the house because their mother had sent him there. Maybe-

"Candace!" Stacy's voice brought everything tumbling back into reality, and Candace started, shocked.

"W-What?"

"You weren't answering my question!" Stacy said, sounding slightly annoyed at having to repeat herself. "What are you _doing_ over there?"

"Nothing," Candace replied, leaning back even further over the chair, "I'm just distracted is all… what were you saying?"

"I was asking you how Ferb is doing."

"…oh."

"And?"

"Well, I'm not entirely sure." Candace was careful to keep her voice low, knowing how well the sound could carry to where Phineas was sitting. "We were only allowed to see him for a few minutes…"

"Was he awake?"

"No." Candace closed her eyes as she spoke the words, willing that they weren't true. "He's in a coma, Stace. He looks terrible."

"Oh my gosh; I am _so_ sorry."

"Don't be," Candace shrugged, as if her actions could be seen across the phone line, "it's not like it's your fault. He fell off the roof."

"The… roof?"

"You heard me." Candace sighed. "They were making something up there, I guess… I'm not sure what happened. All I know is that Ferb fell off the roof and hit his head. And now he's in a coma."

"I am so sorry."

"You've said that." Candace glanced out the glass doors again, sensing motion. Sure enough, Isabella, Buford and Baljeet were entering the backyard, and along with them was… _Jeremy_? Jumping up, Candace muttered something about calling Stacy back, and raced into the backyard.

"...hey Phineas." Isabella was saying as Candace came up. "Whatcha–"

"I'm staring at the ground." Phineas said flatly, not even looking up. "Please leave me alone."

Isabella, Buford and Baljeet exchanged worried glances, while Jeremy raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to Candace.

"How is everything?" He asked, barely getting the words out before Candace enveloped him in a tight hug. "…that bad, hunh?"

"You don't even know." Her voice cracked, and embarrassment rose, but subsided quickly as she realized she didn't even care anymore. "Thanks for coming."

"Of course." Jeremy patted her on the back, looking over at the three kids standing over Phineas. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

"You're helping now." Candace said into his shoulder.

"Well, I meant for _all_ of you." Jeremy hugged her tighter for a moment, then pulled away from her. "I'm not going anywhere, don't worry."

"…thanks Jeremy."

"No problem."

"So you're not doing _anything _today?" Buford's rough voice broke the awkward silence, but Phineas didn't seem to take any notice. Instead, he just swept the area for his platypus, not surprised to find him missing. He didn't even feel like saying "where's Perry" today…

"Lame." Buford said after another moment, crossing his arms and leaning up against the tree. "Guess I know what _I'm _going to do today?"

"And what's that Buford?" Isabella asked, somewhat irritated with the bully's response to her crush's understandable behavior.

"Just what he's doin'." Buford shrugged, allowing his legs to give out from under him so that he sank to the ground to Phineas' left. "I'm just gonna sit here and feel bad."

"That does not sound like a–"

"No, Baljeet, it's a great idea!" Isabella perked up instantly, running around the tree to duplicate Buford's actions on Phineas' right. Folding her legs underneath her, she stared at the same spot he was, hardly looking up when Baljeet sat down on her right.

"I still don't get it," The nerd said under his breath, "but I will join you if you think it will work."

"I don't really get it either." Candace whispered to Jeremy, eyebrows raised as she watched the spectacle before them. "What do they think that's going to accomplish?"

"I think I know." Jeremy said after brief consideration. "If we all sit with Phineas, then he'll know we're here for him, even if we're not saying anything. And you too, Candace."

"You really think so?" The redheaded teen took a step forward. "Buford really came up with something… helpful?"

"Naw," Jeremy waved a hand in the air, "Buford was probably just being mean. But I think it'll work!"

"All right. If you say so, Jeremy." Candace took another step forward, plopping herself directly in front of where Phineas was staring – just a foot or two in front of him. Jeremy knelt down to her right, completing the circle in front of the tree.

Staring down into the middle like everyone else, Candace let her mind wander back to the moment she first heard that something had happened – when she was in the restaurant with Jeremy; when it had been one of the best days of her life. Straight across from her, she had no idea that Phineas was doing exactly the same thing…

* * *

"**_I think that's everything we need!" Phineas rubbed his hands together, leaning over the blueprints he had finished making an hour earlier. It had taken them that long to gather the appropriate tools and materials, and the gang _still_ hadn't shown up. _**

"_**Oh well." Phineas shrugged, glancing down from his vantage point on the roof. "They'll get here soon enough. We'll just have to start without them."**_

_**He looked over a few feet, to where Ferb sat by the ladder. They had plenty to do today, especially if they wanted to finish their latest invention before their parents got home from Spatula City. That way, it was sure to be a big surprise.**_

"_**You think Mom and Dad will like our idea, Ferb?" Phineas stood up, treading carefully over the tiles to lean over his brother. Ferb just nodded, reaching into his toolbox for his power drill. Snapping a fresh battery into place, he hit the trigger a few times before putting it down again and reaching for the next tool.**_

"_**Great!" Phineas grinned, hopping back over to the blueprints. "Cue the music, Ferb – it's time for a montage!"**_

_**Getting to work was easy, and before they knew it, Phineas and Ferb had already laid out all of the materials and were busy nailing things into place, sawing away at boards that were too long, drilling what they could… the usual business. In fact, they were making pretty good time. So good, that within the first hour, Phineas decided they deserved a break.**_

"_**Sure is nice out today." He commented, leaning back against the roof with his arms folded under his head. "Join me Ferb?" **_

_**The green-haired boy shook his head, content to sit at his brother's side instead. Nodding at him, Phineas leaned back and closed his eyes, relaxing in the warmth of the sunlight. Mere seconds later, however, he was immediately alerted to the fact that something was wrong when he heard a slight gasp from his left.**_

_**Opening his eyes, Phineas turned to look at Ferb with a confused look on his face, but it quickly changed as he realized what he was watching. A laser beam of some kind had appeared out of nowhere, and had whizzed right past (or maybe made contact with) Ferb's head. Much to Phineas' horror, the green-haired boy was unable to keep his balance; throwing his arms out in an attempt to still himself sent him over the edge.**_

_**All this happened within a manner of seconds, and Phineas found himself screaming in his brother's place as he lunged forwards. "Ferb!" Throwing his arms out to try and grab him, Phineas found himself too late – he hadn't been close enough, and Ferb had hit the ground by the time it registered that he had missed. "FERB!" **_

_**Leaning over the edge, Phineas' eyes grew wider at the sight that now greeted him. Horrible thoughts flashed through his mind as his face paled – Ferb was lying face-up on the hard pavement of their driveway, a stunned look on his face and his body twisted at a wicked angle. Though he couldn't tell from the distance, Phineas thought he could see red underneath of his brother's head already, and his heart was pounding as he raced to the ladder, making it down in record time. **_

"_**F-Ferb?" He skidded to a halt a few feet away from his best friend. "Ferb?" There was no answer, and Phineas took a step closer, terrified beyond anything he had felt in his short life. "Ferb?"**_

* * *

-  
"He's the one who told me to do it, you know." The silence was finally broken when Phineas spoke up, and everyone turned to look at him.

"What's that, Phineas?" Isabella asked softly, staring at him even as he refused to meet their eyes.

Phineas shrugged his shoulders, waiting another moment or so before responding. "Ferb." Assuming they all knew by now, he didn't bother to explain anything. "He told me to call the ambulance; I wouldn't have had any idea what to do if he hadn't walked me through it."

"...really?" Candace leaned forward, hearing this for the first time. "Wow. That's pretty... uhhh..."

"Crazy?" Phineas suggested, looking up to his big sister. "I know. But it's just like Ferb to help other people even when he's in trouble." Wiping a hand across his eyes to ward off hidden tears, Phineas looked around at each of his friends sitting around the tree. "Just like you guys," he said softly, "thank you so much."

Isabella smiled gently at him, the others following her lead, and then she leaned forwards and pulled him into a hug. It might have been awkward, but to her surprise, Phineas accepted the hug gratefully, wrapping his own arms around her and holding her tight. After a moment of this, Candace put her arms around both of them, then Jeremy and Baljeet joined in, making it a group-sans-Buford hug.

"We're always here for you, Phineas," Isabella said quietly, so that only he could hear it, "_I'm_ always here for you."

"I know, Isabella." The boy smiled, though she couldn't see it. "Thanks."

"Hey, what are friends for?" She said goofily, pulling away from him as everyone else did.

"Not fer sittin' around staring at the ground!" Buford interjected then, glaring at the scene taking place in front of him. "Aren't we going to _do _somethingtoday?"

"Well, I'm not sure..." Phineas frowned. "I don't want to build anything without Ferb..." he paused a moment at his brother's name, but recovered quickly, "we're going to go visit him later."

"Oh, are you?" Baljeet peeked around the tree, his eyes lighting up. "By any chance would we be able to accompany you?"

"I... don't think so." Phineas shook his head slowly and leaned back into the tree. "Mom and Dad said it would be best if we didn't make too big a deal of things..."

"We don't want this to get too crazy," Candace explained, "for now it's just going to be us visiting."

Baljeet, Isabella and Jeremy nodded. "It makes sense." Jeremy said.

Candace and Phineas smiled at him, glad for the understanding, but Buford was still unsatisfied.

"So that's it? We're not doing anything today?"

"Nothing exciting anyway." Phineas said, feeling considerably better now that his friends were with him and he was at home.

"We could make Ferb a card?" Isabella suggested.

"That would be very nice!" Baljeet added eagerly, then stopped as something occurred to him. "Though, he would not be able to read it right now... would he?"

Everyone – including Buford – looked crestfallen for a moment, before Phineas brightened up again. "No, I like it!" He cried, suddenly grinning. "We'll fill the entire room with cards and flowers and nice things like that!" He climbed to his feet so that he was standing over everyone else. "That way, when he wakes up, he'll have something to cheer him up, and to remind him that we're all thinking about him!"

"That's a great idea, Phineas!" Isabella jumped up as well. "We should get started right away!"

"I will help as well!" Baljeet got up, as did Buford and the two teenagers.

"I'd love to make a card," Jeremy said, taking Candace's hand and stepping towards the house, "we can get some materials."

"I'll get the Fireside Girls to help us out!" Isabella started towards the fence.

Buford rolled his eyes skeptically. "If you guys really think I'm gonna make a stupid _get well soon _card covered in lace an' frills..." he paused, "not a chance."

"But Buford!" Baljeet began to protest, but the bully just rose a hand to shut him up.

"Lemme finish!" He growled, and Baljeet took a step back. Buford cleared his throat, checking that he had everyone's attention before going on. "As I was saying, _my_ card is going to be tough and manly. It'll be the _macho_-est card you've ever seen!"

"Great, Buford!" Phineas encouraged, nodding at Candace, Jeremy and Isabella to get going. This was shaping up to be a great idea, and he couldn't wait to get things underway. It was a perfect way to keep the accident off his mind, and to keep him focused on what was important – helping Ferb to get better.

Bending down again, he grabbed a discarded pencil – probably Ferb's – from the ground and moved to follow Baljeet to the garage for more materials. He didn't get far, however, before his mother's voice cut loudly through the opened back door, pulling him to a complete halt.

"Phineas! Candace!" Linda shouted from her place in the kitchen. "Get your things together; we're going to visit Ferb!"


	5. Chapter the Fourth

**_A/N:_**_Over 5000 words, this one! A bit of a filler chapter, I suppose, but I promise - next one is better! Enjoy, and don't forget to review!_**_ :)_**

* * *

"Dad!" A loud screech caught Agent P off guard as he crept around the penthouse of Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. "Would you just tell me what's going on already?" Peeking around the corner of a conveniently placed chair, Agent P spotted his nemesis' teenage daughter Vanessa standing over her father, who was sitting on the floor. Doofenshmirtz had his knees pulled up to his chest, and his chin resting on top of them, staring into space as Vanessa nagged at him.

"Dad!" She said again, louder this time. "You're freaking me out!"

Warily, Agent P stepped forward; aware of the possibility of a trap, but still curious as to what was going on. Of course, he desperately wanted to hit Doofenshmirtz over the head with something (and that was just the first step of his revenge), but this came first. He had to make sure his nemesis wasn't plotting anything more.

"Oh, hi Perry the platypus." He looked up in surprise when Vanessa greeted him instead of the villain, but tipped his hat in greeting nonetheless. "You can probably just go home today," she sighed, sinking into the chair he had been using as cover, "Dad's having some kind of midlife crisis or something. He won't even talk to me!"

Glancing over at his nemesis, Agent P raised an eyebrow. Doofenshmirtz looked back after a moment, then sighed. "I am a terrible evil genius, Perry the platypus," he said, an irritating whine to his voice, "I can't even enjoy the evil I _do _accomplish!"

"Dad, _what do you mean_?" Vanessa cried, exasperation evident on her face. "What evil? What did you do that's got you all worked up like this?"

"I... I..." Doofenshmirtz' face grew sullen as he lowered his knees to the ground, assuming a childlike position with his legs stuck straight out in front of him, "I killed someone."

There was a pause, and Vanessa rose from her chair. "You _**what**_?"

"It was an accident!" Doofenshmirtz cried, sounding close to tears. "I was flying around with my new inator, and then I accidentally hit the "fire randomly at will" button, and the next thing I knew..."

"Dad!" Vanessa's eyes were wide as plates as she stared down at the man she knew as father. "Oh my gosh, I can't even believe this! Did you seriously...?" She glanced over at Agent P, wondering if he was hearing all of this and shocked to find the agent staring back at Doofenshmirtz with watery eyes.

All at once it had occurred to Agent P that he had never really blamed Doofenshmirtz for all of this at all; he had just been looking for a scapegoat. He had never genuinely thought the scientist was fully responsible. _Of course _it had been an accident!

Chattering softly, Agent P dropped any guise of professionalism and waddled over to Doofenshmirtz' side. He laid a hand awkwardly on the man's shoulder, casting him a sympathetic smile as tears threatened the both of them.

"...Perry the platypus?" Doofenshmirtz sniffed after a moment, looking at his nemesis with confusion. "Are you saying that you aren't mad at me?" He looked up at Vanessa then back to Agent P. "But I... I mean how could you... I just..." Sighing, Doofenshmirtz stopped his own attempts at forming a sentence. "He was just a little boy."

"You _killed _a little kid?" Vanessa's jaw dropped at the new discovery, and Doofenshmirtz stared up at her in agony. He opened his mouth to say more, but was interrupted by a quiet chattering at his side. Turning to face Agent P, father and daughter raised an eyebrow at what he was doing. He had pulled a small brown wallet out from under his hat (or maybe from his fur?), and was in the process of flipping through a series of pictures, finally finding the one he was looking for. Holding it close to his body for a moment, Agent P felt tears on his cheeks as he thought about the picture. It was one of the ones he had taken when Phineas and Ferb had gone dimension traveling with him – nearer the end when they said their goodbyes. It was a simple picture of Agent P and Ferb; the latter hugging the former tightly. Simple, yet powerful.

Agent P blinked away the tears, feeling slightly awkward as he passed the picture over to his nemesis. He wasn't sure why it was he did so, but he felt like it was the right thing somehow. Watching in total silence, he saw Doofenshmirtz' eyes grow confused for a moment, before they grew wide with recognition, and then wider still with horror as it slowly began to sink in.

"This is the…" the villain gasped, staring at the picture intensely. "Perry the platypus… was that boy from your… family?" He gasped again as Agent P nodded, and then threw the picture face-down to the ground. "I don't _believe_ it! I finally do something _truly_ evil; and all I want to do is take it back!" He clutched his hands to his head, unable to make eye contact with either of them. In fact, he was reminding Agent P of Phineas from earlier that morning…

"I didn't mean for this to happen; you know I didn't!" Doofenshmirtz went on, angrily shouting at the ground. "I never wanted for anyone to get hurt! It was an accident!"

"Dad, Dad, whoa!" Vanessa fell to her knees beside him. "You need to take a deep breath, okay?"

"But Vanessa!" Doofenshmirtz protested. "I killed a member of Perry's family! His _family_! How can I possibly make up for – oh, what's that Perry the platypus?"

Agent P shook his head quickly, pointing down to the picture of Ferb and himself and shaking his head quickly. He had just realized – despite the number of times it had been mentioned – that Doofenshmirtz actually thought the boy was dead. Obviously he had run off before Phineas had taken action, and now Agent P had to prove to him that he wasn't a murderer… but how?

"Wait, is that a picture of the kid?" Vanessa leaned down and took the photo, flipping it over curiously. There was a split second pause, and the colour drained from her already pale face. "_**F-Ferb?**_"

"Wait, don't tell me you knew the kid too?"

"Dad!" Vanessa's heart was pounding as she clutched the photo tightly and glared at her father, despair written on her face. "_You- you-_ _**you killed Ferb**_?"

"_Krrrrrrr,_" Agent P stepped between the duo before things could get violent, shaking his head again and hoping to get his point across. Opting for the most obvious explanation, he pointed dramatically at the picture once more, then shook his head and drew an imaginary line across his neck. In that order, he figured, they just _had _to figure it out.

"Wait, wait, wait, Vanessa!" Doofenshmirtz held a hand up in the air. "Before you freak out, I think Perry the platypus is trying to tell us something!" Vanessa was already wiping tears from her eyes, but she paid attention, watching as Agent P repeated his actions and her father tried to translate them/

"That… _isn't_ a picture of you and the boy I killed?" He tried lamely, causing Agent P to smack himself in the face.

"_Krrrrrrr." _He shook his head, about to repeat himself again when Vanessa jumped in.

"Dad, wait!" She said loudly, imitating his own words moments earlier. "I think I've got it!" She bent down so that she was level with the platypus and looked directly into his eyes. "Ferb… he isn't dead, is he?"

Agent P shook his head quickly, relieved that she had finally figured it out. "_Krrrr._"

"You mean… I _didn't_ kill him?" Doofenshmirtz' eyes lit up again as his nemesis confirmed his revelation. "Oh happy day!" Jumping to his feet, he did a small dance in place before coming to face his companions again. "So the little boy is okay?"

There was an awkward pause as Agent P considered how to answer this, but he finally gave a little shake of his head. Doofenshmirtz had always been honest to him in the past – he saw no reason to keep secrets from the man. Especially when they directly concerned him.

"He's… not okay?"

"_Krrrrrr._"

"Dad!" Vanessa stared between the platypus and her father, then her eyes fell back onto the picture of Ferb. "We have to go see him."

"_What_?" Doofenshmirtz shook his head quickly. "We can't do _that_!" He threw his arms into the air to emphasize his point. "We'll blow Perry the platypus' cover!" He froze suddenly as he realized what he was saying, but quickly shrugged it off. "Besides, we don't even know the–"

"He's a friend of mine, Dad." Vanessa replied flatly, and Doofenshmirtz watched as she pulled a black helmet over her dark hair. "I'm going with Perry the platypus to see him; are you coming or not?"

Hesitating as his daughter climbed into his nemesis' hovercraft, Doofenshmirtz wearily climbed in beside her. "I'm going to regret this, aren't I?" The engine started, and the craft began to rise from the ground, heading vertically towards the ceiling, where there was no exit to be seen.

"…I'm already regretting this."

* * *

"Dad?" The small voice caused Lawrence to look up from the brochure he was reading, to where his son was sitting just across the room.

"Yes, Phineas?"

The redhead waited a moment before finishing his thought. "What… what's it like to be in a coma?"

Lawrence smiled a little, putting the brochure onto the chair's armrest and leaning forwards in his chair. It was only the second time they had seen Ferb since he had fallen, and he knew his other son was still a little freaked out by everything that was going on. They had brought an extra chair into the room for them, and Phineas had set it up as close to Ferb's bed as he could with all the machines surrounding him. He had spent the last hour just sitting there, occasionally whispering something to his brother that Lawrence could never make out. Linda and Candace had left after only a few minutes in the room, having gone to the mall for a "getaway;" to calm their nerves, and had left the boys to their own devices.

"Well," Lawrence took his time answering, calculating each word so as not to scare Phineas with a careless mistake, "I can't say for certain, exactly." He looked over at his biological son. "I suppose it's really just like you're asleep."

"So then, he's not having any dreams right now?"

"No, I wouldn't think so." Lawrence frowned. "Why do you ask?"

"I was thinking about making a machine to get inside his dreams and try to wake him up," Phineas answered honestly, "but it won't work if he's not dreaming." He sighed, his head flopping onto the bed by Ferb's feet. "I just wish there was a way I could help."

"Well, you could keep talking to him." Lawrence rose from his chair, walking over to sit gingerly on the edge of the bed across from Phineas. "People in comas have been known to remember being talked to even after they wake up."

"…really?" Phineas lifted his head from the blankets. "That means he heard it when I promised him I wouldn't do anything fun without him, right?"

"Oh, Phineas. I'm sure he wouldn't want that."

"What?" The boy looked up at Lawrence quizzically. "But I can't make the most out of summer if Ferb isn't with me! It's just not the same!"

"Nobody said it had to be the same," Lawrence reached across the bed and laid a hand on Phineas' shoulder, "but I'm sure Ferb wouldn't want you to have no fun just because he can't be there with you right now, wouldn't you think?"

"Well, I guess so…" Phineas didn't sound fully convinced, but Lawrence left it at that, waiting to see if there were any more questions. Sure enough:

"Is he ever going to wake up?"

"Of course he is!" Lawrence was surprised at this question, but Phineas gave him a doubtful look.

"Are you just saying that because you're supposed to cheer me up?"

"No, I'm not." The man tightened his grip on Phineas' shoulder. "I'm saying it because it's the truth. Ferb's been seriously hurt, yes, but he _is_ going to get better. It might take a little while, but everything's going to go back to normal. You just have to be patient, that's all."

"…you really think so?"

"I know so."

There was a pause. Then: "Is he going to be different when he wakes up?"

"Different how?"

"I dunno." Phineas shrugged. "Different like… will he remember who we are? Will he be the same Ferb he was before he fell off the roof? Will he still want to build things with me?"

"I'm sure he will," Lawrence said confidentially, "it just might take a while."

"I heard the doctors talking to you and Mom today." Phineas replied, gloomier than usual. "They said that there's no way of knowing when he's going to wake up, or what he's going to be like when he does. They said that comas are really hard to read."

"And they are." Lawrence eyed the brochure he had been reading prior to Phineas' interruption. "In a way, we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

"I'm not very good at being patient." Phineas admitted, gulping as he watched his brother breathing in and out, in and out…

"Me neither." Lawrence leaned forwards and scooped the boy up from his seat, pulling him onto the bed with him, where they shared a warm hug. "But we can hang on a little longer together, can't we?"

"Okay," Phineas buried his face in his father's shirt, "I can do it for Ferb."

"That's my boy." Lawrence ran his fingers through Phineas' hair, unable to keep himself from looking over his shoulder at his other boy, wondering if things really would _ever_ get back to normal…

* * *

"Wait, this is where you _live_?" Doofenshmirtz looked down at the picturesque townhouse, with the large tree in the backyard and the garage door wide open. "Really? I always imagined it to be… you know, _cooler_."

"It's just a house, Dad." Vanessa rolled her eyes, hanging on to the armrests of her chair as Agent P brought the craft down onto a hidden landing pad in the empty backyard, where it promptly dumped the three onto the grass and vanished underground.

Vanessa and Doofenshmirtz stood up just in time to see a little girl dressed in pink enter the yard, her arms full of paper, glitter, stickers, and various other girly materials. Behind her, a tall teenage boy and a group of other children carried similar things.

"All right everybody, if you just put your materials in the… oh?" The girl stopped when she spotted the trio in the yard. "There you are, Perry."

The platypus, who had assumed his alter ego, chattered a hello, and Isabella turned her attention to his companions. "Who are you?"

"I'm Vanessa," the teenager answered quickly, before her dad could ruin things, "we met earlier this summer, in–"

"Tokyo, right." Isabella nodded quickly. "I remember you. And this is…?"

"My dad." Vanessa said, quickly introducing him to all the kids whose names she could remember. "We came here to… uh, see how Ferb's doing."

"You heard about that?" Isabella blinked, and Vanessa did her best no to look down at the pet by her feet.

"I, uh, know people." She said in way of explanation. Isabella seemed to accept this answer, and got right down to business.

"Baljeet, Buford, Jeremy; you guys start sorting the materials. Gretchen, Holly; you two are on glitter duty. Ginger and Katie; flowers. Any questions?" A pause. "Good! Let's get to work!"

Everyone leapt into action, and Isabella slid over to join Vanessa and Doofenshmirtz. "Sorry about that," she said cheerily, "we're making _get well soon_ cards for Ferb – we're trying to fill his whole room with them! It was Phineas' idea."

"Speaking of…" Vanessa trailed off, looking around the backyard for a sight of the unmistakable redhead.

"He's at the hospital with Ferb." Isabella sighed, catching the drift of the incomplete sentence. "We were just about to start when Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher called them away. Candace too."

"So, he's still in the hospital?" Doofenshmirtz spoke up for the first time since entering the yard, and Isabella nodded at him.

"Yes, sir," she said politely, "he's, uh…" her voice lost its chipper edge as she went on, "he's in a coma, sir; not sure if you guys knew that. We don't know when he's going to wake up."

There was another pause as everything came crashing down around Vanessa and Doofenshmirtz, and the two exchanged a horrified glance before Vanessa burst out:

"I have to see him!"

"You can't." Isabella replied casually, though she sensed the distress in the teenager's voice. "Only family is allowed; that's what Phineas said." She sighed, her final mask slipping as she stared down at her feet. "He's pretty broken up about all this."

"Well, no kidding." Vanessa commented, ignoring her dad's confused whispers in her ear about who "Phineas" was supposed to be.

"Mhmm." Isabella shrugged, clearing her throat and then looking up again. "You can make him a card though."

"Can I?" Vanessa shot a look towards the other kids on the floor, each struggling with various tasks, yet appearing to be enjoying themselves.

"Sure!" Isabella smiled, tilting her head to the side as she spoke. "I bet Ferb would love to see one from you when he wakes up!"

"You think so…?"

"Sure!"

A slight smile touched her face as Vanessa took a step forwards, leaving her father behind as she got to the ground beside the others. "You know what, I think I will."

* * *

_**Horrible thoughts flashed through Phineas' mind as his face paled – Ferb was lying face-up on the hard pavement of their driveway, and Phineas thought he could see red underneath of his brother's head. His heart was pounding as he raced to the ladder, making it down in record time. **_

"_**F-Ferb?" He skidded to a halt a few feet away from his best friend. "Ferb?" There was no answer, and Phineas took a step closer, terrified beyond anything he had felt in his short life. "Ferb?"**_

"_**Phin….eas…" When the reply finally came it was muffled, and Phineas felt every muscle in his body tensing as he froze where he was standing. "Ferb?"**_

"_**Come… here."**_

_**Taking another tentative step, Phineas towered over his brother – a feeling he was seriously not used to.**_

"_**I'm right here, Ferb." He swallowed hard, trying to avoid looking at what he now **_**knew**_** was a red stain under Ferb's head. "Are you okay?"**_

"…_**yes." Phineas let out a sigh of relief, then jumped as Ferb's raspy voice corrected itself. "…no."**_

"_**No?" Phineas leapt up again. "What do you mean **_**no**_**?"**_

"_**Do me a… favour?" Ferb was panting heavily, and Phineas could see he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. His voice cracked with every few syllables, and Phineas realized that this was way more serious than he had thought it was.**_

"_**Anything!" He replied earnestly. "How can I help?"**_

"_**Ambulance." Ferb whispered, causing the smaller boy's heart to plummet into his stomach.**_

"_**What?" Phineas cried, taking his brother's shoulder carefully. "You don't need an ambulance, Ferb! You're okay!" He felt water stinging in his eyes, and blinked it angrily away. "**_**You're****okay**_**!" **_

"…_**no." Ferb repeated his previous statement, wheezing this time. "Phineas… call now."**_

"_**But I-!" **_

"…_**now…" Ferb closed his eyes halfway, looking up at his brother with a hazy expression, "…please."**_

"_**I… I…" Phineas didn't want to be seeing this; he didn't want this to be happening; but it was. It was, and there was nothing he could do about it… except… "Okay! I'll be right back – don't go to sleep!" His brain suddenly on over-drive, he raced into the house and grabbed his cell phone from the table where he had left it that morning. Pulling it open, he had already dialed 9-1-1 by the time he reached his brother's side once more. Sitting on the ground, he took one of Ferb's hands in his while he waited for the ringtone to start.**_

* * *

"We'll let you know if there are any changes, okay?" One of the nurses who had been staying with Ferb – Phineas had heard her called Jess – called after Lawrence as the duo left the room.

"Thank you," Lawrence called back, waving at her, "we really appreciate it!"

She nodded, then ducked back into Ferb's room and closed the door behind her. Phineas had already asked about that – Ferb was supposed to have someone keeping an eye on him at all times, just in case something went wrong or, on a lighter note, in case he woke up.

_Ferb would hate that_, Phineas thought gloomily as he followed his dad out of the ICU and towards the hospital exit, _he likes having his privacy…_

"What do you say we stop at the mall and get an ice cream cone?" Lawrence looked down at his son, recognizing that the boy was deep in thought. "Phineas?"

"What?" Phineas shrugged. "No thanks, Dad. I just wanna get back to everyone else. We're making cards for Ferb, you know."

"Oh, are you?" Lawrence smiled fondly, pushing open a door and holding it as Phineas went through. "How nice."

"It was Isabella's idea," Phineas said, unknowingly echoing the Fireside Girl's own words, "they're working on them at home right now; Buford, Baljeet, Jeremy…"

"How nice." Lawrence said again, helping Phineas into the car and then starting the ignition. "I'm sure Ferb will love it."

"I hope so." Phineas leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes and remaining silent for the rest of the ride. When they finally pulled into their own driveway, he hopped out of his seat and raced around to the backyard. What he found there only half surprised him – Isabella, the Fireside Girls, Jeremy, Buford and Baljeet were all sitting or lying on the ground, making cards in all shapes, colours and sizes. It brought a smile to Phineas' face, but also a look of confusion when he spotted someone he hadn't invited in the first place.

"…Vanessa, right?"

The girl dressed in black looked up from the card she had been writing on, squinting in the bright sunlight as she looked up at him. "That's me." She sat up quickly. "I hope you don't mind that I'm–"

"Hey, the more the merrier!" Phineas grinned, giving her a knowing look that made her face turn red. She looked away quickly, and Phineas went over to join Isabella. "So what have I missed?"

"Vanessa's dad has been talking to Perry since he got here." She replied casually, throwing some more glitter onto the mess of pink in front of her.

"Perry?" Phineas looked over his shoulder to where a man in a lab coat was whispering something into his platypus' ear. "Oh. There you are–"

"I already said it," Isabella cut him off playfully, "but it is weird how he's been talking to him like that…"

"I didn't know Vanessa's dad was a pharmacist." Phineas commented, seeming to disregard her concern. "Maybe he just likes animals?"

"I guess so." She shrugged, taking his arm gently and pulling him down to sit beside her. "So how's Ferb doing?"

"I don't know." Phineas said flatly. "He's still unconscious; there's not really much to say."

"Well, does he look better?"

"Not really."

"I see."

Isabella looked back down to her card, then added another unicorn sticker to the front of it. She was starting to get the feeling that the cards were pretty pointless – it seemed kind of useless to make cards for someone who couldn't read them; and the fact that they couldn't help him at all only made her feel worse.

"Dad said people don't have dreams when they're in a coma." Phineas said softly, causing her to stop working again. "So that idea won't work."

"It was a good try though, Phineas."

"Thanks, I guess." They lapsed into silence once more, and as Isabella went back to busying herself, bits of Doofenshmirtz' one-way conversation came drifting across on the wind.

"…your house, Perry the platypus… don't worry, I wouldn't…. advantage of… so sorry…"

Raising an eyebrow, Phineas stood and left Isabella behind, walking casually over to the unlikely duo and plopping himself beside Perry.

"Hello there, sir." He said respectfully. "I take it you're Vanessa's dad?"

"That's me." The man said, paling slightly as he realized who it was addressing him. "My name is Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz."

"I'm Phineas," he held out a hand, which the villain took nervously, "nice to meet you."

"You… too." Doofenshmirtz withdrew his hand after the greeting, staring at it for a moment. "These are some very nice friends you've got here."

"I know," Phineas nodded in agreement, stroking Perry's head absently, "they're making _get well soon _cards for my brother, Ferb."

"So I hear." Doofenshmirtz' eyes fell as his suspicions were confirmed. So this _was_ the boy's brother. "May I ask what… happened to him?"

"Of course." Phineas nodded, if not a little sadly. "Vanessa is Ferb's friend, so you deserve to know." He took a deep breath, lifting his pet from the ground entirely and hugging him while Doofenshmirtz watched tensely. "To be honest, I'm not exactly sure _what_ happened… we were building something like we do every day, but we were doing it on the roof. I think it was supposed to be some sort of addition to our bedroom… I don't even remember." He shook his head. "Anyhow, we were on the roof, and we had been working for a little while, so I decided we should take a break. Then suddenly outta nowhere, this giant, like, laser beam came flying at us!

"It hit Ferb right in the head… or, I thought it did. It might have even missed him and he just got surprised, I dunno. But either way, it threw off his balance, and he fell off the roof."

"That's… terrible!"

"I know." Phineas stared at the ground as his story came to its conclusion. "He hit his head pretty hard off the driveway, and then I had to call an ambulance, then Mom and Dad showed up at the hospital… it's a pretty big mess." He sniffed, and Doofenshmirtz found himself in the awkward position of patting the boy on the back.

"It's all right," he said softly, "I'm sure your brother is going to be fine." He was only half-comforting Phineas, he realized after a moment, partially consoling himself for causing this "big mess." He was starting to doubt he could possibly feel worse about all of this, and he looked down at Perry the platypus.

The secret agent, now undercover, chattered softly, doing his best to cheer Phineas up as well. Doofenshmirtz knew he was wondering about the possibility of his cover being blown, but the villain swore to himself then and there that he would never use any of this against his nemesis. Knowing where he lived, and who his host family was didn't change anything. The only thing that was different was that Doofenshmirtz was suddenly able to tell agent Perry and normal Perry apart from each other. Granted, that one probably should have been obvious from the start.

"Thanks, sir." Phineas said then, scooting back so that Doofenshmirtz was no longer touching him. "I'm glad you brought Vanessa here – Ferb would be happy to know she was worried about him." He placed Perry back on the ground, leaning back on his arms while enjoying the warm sunlight on his face. "I can't wait until he wakes up. I miss him so much."

"I'm sure he knows it, too." Doofenshmirtz said awkwardly, pretending not to notice when Perry nudged him with his beaver tail. "_Not now!_"

"What was that?" Phineas looked back at the duo, and Doofenshmirtz blanked.

"Uhh, nothing." He said speedily. "Just, uh, petting your platypus."

"Oh." Phineas accepted his lame excuse without batting an eyelash. "His name is Perry; but he doesn't really do much. Don't expect a big reaction." He went back to staring at the sky while Doofenshmirtz gave Perry an inquisitive look. Perry just chattered in response, and the villain let it go.

"Kids!" A sudden shout from the house caught everyone's attention, and Lawrence stepped into the backyard with a tray of cookies. "Who wants biscuits?"

The yard was filled with noise as the kids all headed into the kitchen for some air conditioning and snacks. Candace and Linda had gotten back just after Lawrence and Phineas, and Linda had made lemonade while Candace modeled her new outfit for her father – a red tank top and white skirt.

"You look lovely, darling," Lawrence said honestly, kissing his daughter on the top of her head, "I love it."

"Do you?" Candace grinned, only widening it when Jeremy came in through the back door. "Jeremy!"

"Hey, Candace!" The teenager smiled, and then introduced Candace to Vanessa, who smirked at the unnecessary courtesy.

"Help yourselves, everyone." Linda announced, placing a second pitcher of lemonade on the counter. Stepping back beside her husband, she smiled as he wrapped an arm around her. "It's nice to see everyone coming together like this, isn't it?"

"It sure is." Lawrence agreed, counting the number of people sitting in his kitchen. "But hold on a minute… where's Phineas?"

* * *

"Aren't you going to go have some lemonade?" Doofenshmirtz pointed towards the house, doing his best to get the boy away without acting like a jerk.

Phineas, however, just shook his head. "I'm not really in the mood for a snack." He said honestly. "It just makes me think of Ferb."

"…does everything make you think of Ferb?" Doofenshmirtz asked, genuinely curious. Having never had a good relationship with his own brother, it confused him that Phineas seemed so dismayed. Of course, he could sympathize, but he still didn't fully understand it.

"Pretty much."

"Really?" Doofenshmirtz pulled out the picture of Ferb and Perry – discreetly so that Phineas wouldn't see. "What is he like, your brother?"

"He's incredible." Phineas got a dreamy look in his eyes, and Doofenshmirtz got the feeling he was going to be there for a while. "He's actually my stepbrother, you know, but I swear we were made for each other…"


	6. Chapter the Fifth

_**A/N: **I realize the chapter titles are confusing. :'D_

* * *

The first thing he noticed when he woke up was the voices.

Well, actually, they weren't the _first _thing he noticed.

_I can't… move?_ Ferb Fletcher's first thought upon waking was a profound one – despite coming to consciousness in a matter of seconds, he found himself at once completely immobile. He could tell he was face-up in a bed, and could hear a variety of sounds surrounding him; including a low beeping that quickly told him where he was. However, he _didn't_ know a lot more than he did, such as what was going on, for starters. Or how he had gotten to where he was. Or why he couldn't move a muscle.

Trying to sit up proved fruitless – his body refused to obey his mind's commands. After a moment or so of trying, he gave up upon realizing that he couldn't even open his eyes or speak. In fact, he also noticed that he wasn't even breathing for himself; rather a tube running uncomfortably down his throat was doing it for him. It was an awkward situation, to say the very least.

Struggling to rise once more (to no avail), Ferb allowed himself to relax, trying instead to tune in on the voices hovering in the void above him. It was surprisingly hard to do, and he wondered a moment at the state of his body, but shoved the thought aside in favour of eavesdropping.

It took only a moment for him to zero in on his brother's voice:

"So I think we're pretty much out of space in here, aren't we?"

The voice that replied had an English accent to it, leaving no doubt as to who was answering. "I'd say that you are, yes." His father said. "You've done a wonderful job, Phineas."

"Thanks, Dad." Phineas answered, and a slight shift in the bed implied him sitting down on the edge of it. "I just hope Ferb likes it."

_Hope I like what…?_

"I'm sure he will, sweetie." Their mother spoke up from a little farther to the left, near Lawrence perhaps. "The flowers look amazing."

"Not to mention that one card over there… oh wait, that's mine." Candace said then, a slight giggle in her voice as he imagined her pointing across the room.

"It looks lovely," Lawrence said once more, "but I do think you've filled the room to its capacity."

"We're going to have to come up with something else to do for him now…" Phineas' voice took on a hushed tone, and Ferb tensed up as a hand stroked his arm gently. Or, he would have. "I can't believe it's been an entire week."

"It sure feels like forever, doesn't it?" Linda sighed, walking across the room and sitting down beside Phineas. The shift in the mattress became more pronounced, and an unknown voice warned them to be careful from the far end of the room.

"We know, Jess," Phineas replied casually, "we're just sitting beside him." The unseen hand continued to caress Ferb's arm, and he assumed it was his brother's, though he could not be certain. "You guys think he'll wake up soon?"

_But I _am_ awake!_

"I don't know, Phineas." Linda replied instead, unable to hear the answer her other son was mentally screaming right below them. "We'll just have to wait and see."

Phineas sighed, and the hand pulled away from Ferb as the duo climbed off the bed. The sound of a chair being pulled up sounded to his left and someone sank into it. Phineas, Ferb guessed, judging by the next words spoken. They were soft, and by the sound of them, whispered directly into the boy's ear: "You've got to wake up soon, okay Ferb? Everyone is waiting for you." There was a pause, and the entire room seemed to stand still as Phineas carried on. "We've been talking about you all week, waiting for you to come back to us… things aren't half as fun when you're not around, Ferb. Did I tell you that even Vanessa has been over all week? I know how you feel about her, Ferb, and she's been worried about you…"

_Vanessa is at our house?_

"Phineas, what are you doing?" Suddenly Candace's voice was right above them, giving Ferb a surprise while Phineas hardly reacted.

"I'm telling him that everyone's waiting for him to wake up." The boy answered simply, and Candace sighed in exasperation.

"He can't hear you, you know."

"Sure he can." Lawrence spoke up again. "There have been reports of–"

"I know, Dad," Candace said irritably, "it's just weird, okay?"

"Is not!" Phineas started to protest, but one of their parents must have done something, because the argument ended right there, and Ferb felt yet another shift in weight as Phineas laid his head down beside Ferb's left arm.

"You need to stay quiet," the unknown voice spoke again, and Ferb deducted that she had to be the nurse, "_and_ you need to stop touching the bed."

"I'm sorry, Jess." Phineas apologized, lifting his head at once. "I just wanna be with him…"

"We all do, Phineas." Linda replied, coming closer yet again. The room lapsed into silence, and Ferb picked up on a variety of other noises surrounding him. It surprised him how quickly his hearing seemed to accelerate – he could make out each of his family members' breathing, as well as the low beeping, which continued steadily, and a slight whirring from what he supposed were other machines he was hooked up to.

Trying to muster up the strength, he gave one last attempt to _do _something – anything to reveal to his family that he was there with them. However, any and every attempt was unsuccessful, and he settled instead for trying to piece together what had happened to him. His head throbbed dully, which lead him to believe he had somehow injured it – and yet it couldn't have been anything too bad, could it?

_My name is Ferb Fletcher; I am ten years old; I live in Danville with my brother Phineas and my sister Candace and our parents; I have a pet platypus named Perry and a chameleon named Steve; I have no idea what happened to me. _

That said, he certainly didn't have amnesia.

Glad to have ruled out the option, he considered the other possibilities. From the sound of his family's conversation, he had been unconscious for over a week, which lead him to believe he had been in a coma. Shocking as that was, it still didn't explain his current situation, and though he searched and searched through his memories, he turned up nothing that gave him any clues. About ready to give up altogether, he snapped out of it when Phineas spoke again.

"Even if it _is_ weird, I'm still going to talk to you." He heard the whispered words and wished he could have smiled at them. "We have to go now, but I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" There was a pause, and the quiet voice of his parents telling Phineas to hurry it up. A gentle touch of his hand was the redhead's only way of saying goodbye, and Ferb felt warm inside as it brushed up against his own. "I love you, Ferb; talk to you soon!"

Hurried footsteps signaled the boy's catching up to the others, and then the door closed, leaving Ferb alone in the darkness.

* * *

"Whatcha doooin'?"

"Nothing much."

The new greeting-and-response had become habit, and though she didn't like it, Isabella was beginning to understand. Despite her previous (and duly regretted) relief that Phineas had been uninjured, she was starting to realize how much her friend – and herself – relied on Ferb. The quiet boy was the one who made sure everything was safe before they went on their adventures – he was the one who designed most of what they built, the expert who crafted most of their creations. He was also the one, it seemed, who kept Phineas happy.

Sitting down against the tree beside him, Isabella spread her legs out in front of her, waiting for Phineas to say something. Again, this had become habit – few of the other kids bothered to stop by anymore, and whenever Isabella did, she ended up listening to Phineas talk about his brother for hours on end. She had never known he could talk so much (and for Phineas, that was saying something)!

"Did you go to visit Ferb this morning?"

"Yep." Phineas leaned back, folding his arms behind his head. "Nothing's changed yet. Jess said it should be soon…"

"…didn't she say that yesterday?"

"And the day before." The redhead sighed, looking over at her with puppy dog eyes. "Sometimes I feel like he's _never_ going to wake up. That people are just saying that to make me feel better…"

"Oh, Phineas!" Isabella wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him closer to her. Reminding herself that this was for him and not for her, she took a deep breath before giving him a warm hug. "That's not true at all!"

* * *

"They look nice together, don't they?" Candace jumped, startled at the sudden comment from behind her. Whirling around, she found herself face-to-face with her boyfriend, and she smiled shyly.

"Were you spying on me?" She said slowly, allowing him to take up a place beside her, staring out the window at her younger brother.

"Were you spying on Phineas and Isabella?"

"…were you spying on me spying on Phineas and Isabella?"

"…yes?" Jeremy laughed slightly, and then pulled her back into the living room. "Now why don't you leave your brother alone and come sit with me?"

"But-!" Candace tried to argue. "I need to keep an eye on him; to make sure he's okay!"

"He'll be fine, Candace." Jeremy said slowly, watching her with worried eyes and a careful expression. "It's you I'm worried about."

"…me?" Her attention finally diverted, the teenager turned to look at him as he sank onto their couch, taking her with him. "Why would you be worried about _me_?"

"Well," Jeremy frowned slightly as he watched her, "you've been spending all your time looking out for Phineas lately. Not that that's a bad thing – it's great – but I get the feeling you need to look out for you too, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

Jeremy sighed, and then cut right to the chase: "How are you feeling about all of this?"

"_All this_?" Candace repeated. "I'm…" She paused then, conflicting feelings running through her as she tried to decide what to tell him. "I'm scared," she said finally, choosing honesty above all else, "I'm scared for Ferb. I'm afraid that he's not going to wake up, or that if he does he won't be the same… and I'm scared of what that could do to Phineas. I'm worried about Isabella and the rest of their friends – it seems like they're losing Phineas just like it feels like we've lost Ferb… and I'm worried about my parents too. Everyone has been acting all distant lately, like they don't want to believe this is really happening… I'm just trying to keep my grip on reality, you know? To make sure that _someone _here stays sane and is ready to help when Ferb does wake up, you know?"

"I… think I know what you mean." Jeremy nodded after a short pause. "You're trying to make things right again; but it's not really going so well, is it?"

"The only thing that is going to fix any of this is Ferb waking up." Candace said gloomily, leaning back into the cushions of the couch. "And who knows when _that's_ going to happen?"

"It will," Jeremy assured her, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, "you just keep staying positive. Your family needs you, but they don't need you to take care of them; you know what I mean? You just keep being you – you don't need to be okay with this. Just… be Candace."

"…I think I can do that." The redhead smiled slightly, pulling Jeremy into a quick hug. "Thanks, Jeremy. You're the best."

"No, you're the best;" He said back, a smile on his own face; "I just got lucky."

* * *

"All right, Ferb," Jess Turret leaned forward over the still body of the young boy, "time to change your IV." She didn't know why she still talked to him – the boy was comatose and unresponsive – but it helped calm her nerves somehow, and made things feel less… wrong. "It'll just take a second, don't worry."

Pulling the blankets away from him, she gently took a hold of his right arm, positioning it so that she could reach the wrist easily. Adjusting a few knobs and checking a few numbers, she leaned forwards and removed the thin needle from the boy's wrist. Removing the empty bag from the device, she set to work replacing it, working quickly and efficiently as she could.

She had already done this multiple times – it was part of her duty of watching over Ferb during the day. She had been trained specifically to deal with people in this sort of situation, so she knew exactly what to expect, _and _what to do if the unexpected happened. However, even Jess was not expecting what happened next.

Pushing her long brown hair out of her eyes, the young woman leaned over her charge once more, taking his right hand to re-insert the IV. Flipping his wrist over, she found the spot and moved to slide the needle back into place.

Ferb screamed.

* * *

As the sun began to set, the Flynn-Fletcher family started their nightly routine as always. Linda and Lawrence turned off the outside lights and finished cleaning up the kitchen from the late supper they'd had; Candace and Phineas brushed their teeth and got into their pajamas; someone found Perry and made sure he was in the house before the door was locked… same old, same old. The only difference, of course, was that Phineas went to bed alone. Or, mostly alone anyhow.

"_Krrrrrr._" Perry was already curled up in Ferb's bed when the boy walked into the room. Smiling a little, Phineas climbed up to sit next to his pet, knowing that Perry was doing his best to keep him happy.

"Hey, Perry," he whispered, laying back on top of the covers, "thanks for being here."

"_Krrrrrr._"

"Yeah, Ferb's gonna be back soon." Phineas had gotten into the habit –there was that word again! – of talking to the platypus as though he were having a conversation. His days had grown lonelier since the accident, and with no-one to talk to at night or in the morning, Perry was his constant companion. In fact, it even seemed he was disappearing less lately, as if his usual business had ceased to bother him for the time being… either way, Phineas certainly appreciated it.

"We'll just have to see what tomorrow brings, right Perry?" the boy yawned as he did his best to stay positive, crawling under the covers and pulling his pet to his chest. "Good night."

"_Krrrrrr._"

Less than a minute later, Phineas sat up. "I forgot to get a drink of water." Petting Perry once on the head, he hopped out of Ferb's bed again, his bare feet slapping against the floor as he left the room and headed down the hallway. Making his way to the stairs, he was caught off guard when a sudden shout came from the direction of the kitchen. Suddenly suspicious, he slowed his steps, sneaking to the edge of the stairs to see what was going on.

"Are you kidding me?" His mother was talking to someone – maybe his dad? – and she sounded very excited. "When?"

"Darling, who are you talking to?" The sleepy voice of Lawrence caught Phineas' ear, and he tilted his head in confusion. If she wasn't talking to Lawrence, then who was she…?

_The phone!_

"How much you wanna bet it's the hospital?" For the second time that night Phineas was startled, by a hushed voice coming from just above him. Looking up, he smiled at the sight of Candace, still wearing her housecoat over pink, frilly pajamas. Her hair was a mess, and she knelt beside her brother to figure out what was going on below. "I bet something's happened."

"You think so?" Phineas' heart suddenly picked up the pace, and he held a hand to his chest, overly excited and afraid of all the possibilities.

"Just listen!" Candace hissed, leaning over him as they tried to spot their parents.

"Yes, of course!" Linda was saying, ignoring her husband's repeated attempts at interrupting her. "When could we – oh, perfect!" She went on like this for a while, pacing around the kitchen the whole time and lowering her voice to make eavesdropping impossible. Eventually Lawrence gave up, sinking into a chair and waiting for her exchange to be over.

Candace and Phineas sat beside each other at the top of the stairs, patiently waiting for either a clue, or to be called down for the news. If it was important, Phineas figured, his mother would let them know – even if it _was _late.

A low beep informed them that the phone had been hung up, and they braced themselves for the information.

"Who was that?" Lawrence asked, voicing his children's own thoughts. "Why would they be calling at eleven o'clock at–"

"It was the hospital." Linda said quickly, and Phineas' heart continued pounding against his ribcage as he waited breathlessly for her next words.

"The hospital?" Suddenly wide awake, Lawrence repeated her words. "What did they say?"

"They said…" Linda's voice hitched, as though she could hardly voice what she was about to say, and Phineas thought he spotted tears in her eyes as she finally spit it out:

"They said that he's awake!"

The moment the words registered, Phineas' entire world came to a halt. His heart seemed to stop as everything around him grew hazy; his head swam with a sudden dizziness, and he knew there were tears in his eyes. He vaguely heard his father's shout of joy, and his sister's piercing scream just beside him, but he didn't pose any reaction of his own. He felt numb – a good kind of numb that seemed to fill his entire body with a strange, tingling sensation. He couldn't even believe this was happening.

"Phineas!" Candace grabbed his arm, pulling him into the biggest hug he had ever experienced. "Did you _hear_ that?" She squealed as their parents came charging up the stairs, too excited to bother with questions as they shared a group hug.

"…Phineas?" Linda wrapped an arm around her son when they all separated, finding themselves in a heap on the top of the stairs. "You okay, hon?"

"I don't believe it," he whispered, the tears flowing freely, "is he… really awake?"

"He's responsive," Linda answered, reaching over to dry his wet cheeks with her sleeve, "he hasn't done much of anything yet, but he woke up a few hours ago."

"I don't believe it." Phineas said again, burying his face into his mother's shirt as a grin took over his face. The feeling returned to his body, even as his heart continued to pound out of his chest. "I don't even believe it… he's okay. He's going to be okay!"

For the first time in days, things were starting to look up.


End file.
